Recent Wandering Bull Articles

Bead Weaving with a Bead Loom

Use our Ojibwa Bead Loom or our Mighty Mini Bead Loom to create strips of beadwork. After you finish your beaded strip you can use them as straps, belts, and bracelets. You can also attach beaded loom strips to other items like shirts, leggins, moccasins, and bags. Bead weaving on a loom is easy to learn to do and can be done with a variety of beads including Seed Beads, Pony Beads, and Wampum Beads.

Lazy Stitch Beading Instructions

About Lazy Stitch:

Native Americans of the Plains commonly use Lazy Stitch to create beaded designs on clothing and accessories. Instead of creating a Loomwork Strip that you later attach to the item, with Lazy Stitch you sew the beads directly to the fabric or leather. The design should be drawn to actual finished scale on a piece of paper then traced onto the work surface. Designs that are going to appear on opposite sides of an item should be reversed for a mirrored effect. For example, on a vest, the design should appear as a mirror image on each side.

You can also bead directly onto a leather strip which you can later attach to your item. This technique allows for the creation of beaded designs that you can add to Blankets or Buffalo Robes, Leggings, Leather Shirts, Pipe Bags and other bags, and Wrist Cuffs.

Sweetgrass

Sweetgrass, Hierochloe Odorata, is a beautiful sacred plant growing in the northern half of the U.S., up to the arctic circle. Sometimes called Buffalo Grass or Vanilla Grass, it spreads by underground rhizomes and prefers damp lowland areas. Because of its connection to water and its sweet smell it is considered feminine. People use it for ceremonies and healing along with sage and cedar. Continue reading Sweetgrass